CHANDIGARH, Dec 1 — The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has stopped Haryana from pursuing its proposal to build a new Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh, amid concerns that the project could trigger political friction ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections.
Sources said senior Haryana officials recently raised the issue with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who “categorically told them not to pursue the project further” with the Chandigarh Administration.
The Chandigarh Administration had already rejected Haryana’s land-swap proposal earlier this year, saying the UT Master Plan-2031 had “no provision” for such an exchange. The request involved a 10-acre plot between the Railway light point and the IT Park, finalised in June 2022 after visits by then Speaker Gian Chand Gupta and then Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
In return, Haryana had offered 12 acres in the Saketri area of Panchkula. UT officials declined the offer, citing planning and access issues, and pointed out that a natural drain split the Saketri parcel into two. “The two sites were not comparable in terms of access and urban planning,” officials said.
The Chandigarh plot, they noted, is a prime location with a direct link to Madhya Marg through a 200-foot-wide road.
Haryana has argued that a larger Assembly complex will be necessary once the 2026 delimitation increases the number of Assembly constituencies from 90 to 126 and Lok Sabha seats from 10 to 14. The existing Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh lacks room for expansion.
The UT’s initial offer of land drew objections from several Chandigarh civic groups and political leaders in Punjab, who said Haryana should look for land “in Panchkula or elsewhere in the state” rather than seek space in the shared capital.
